More Money in Your Pocket

Help with travel

Travel to school

Some pupils may be able to get help with the cost of travelling to school or other place of education.

Find out about help with travel to school.

Barnsley MiCard travel pass

The Barnsley MiCard travel pass gives children and young people who live in Barnsley free bus travel in South Yorkshire, as long as the journey starts or finishes in the Barnsley local authority area.

Staying active for less

The Barnsley Leisure Card gives you a discount on a variety of sports activities across Barnsley Premier Leisure (BPL) sites. You can find out if you're eligible for the card and apply on the BPL website.

School holiday clubs

Our Healthy Holidays clubs support families who might need extra help to access food and activities to keep their children healthy through the school holidays.

Children who receive free school meals as you/they receive a qualifying benefit can have a free place at our Healthy Holidays clubs.

Internet access and books at our libraries

Our libraries are a welcoming hub for the community where you can meet, learn, discover and access services. Whether you want to get online, join in with activities and events, borrow a book or need somewhere to study, you're sure to find something for you.

Internet access

You can access the internet at all of our library branches by connecting your smartphone, tablet or laptop to our free WiFi. You can also use our PCs for up to two hours a day - to get online or use office applications.

Find out more about using the internet in our libraries.

Books

If you enjoy reading a good book, you might not need to buy these for yourself. You can borrow a range of fiction and non-fiction books from your local library for free. Find out about borrowing books and reading.

If your local branch doesn't have the book you're looking for, you can request it to be sent from another Barnsley library branch free of charge. You can do this through your library account.

Textbooks for studying

If you need to use an expensive textbook for your studies and we don't have it in stock at our libraries, we may be able to borrow it from another library for a small charge. This is much cheaper than you needing to buy the book.

Find out about charges for borrowing books from other libraries.

eBooks, audiobooks and digital magazines

If you're a library member you can access a range of eBooks, audiobooks and digital magazines on your smartphone or tablet for free.

Find out about eBooks, eAudio and digital magazines.

Visit our museums

Our museums and galleries are fantastic, pocket-friendly places to spend time. They have lots of free events and activities, whatever your age.

Find out more on the Barnsley Museums website.

Find things to do for free

There's lots of fun and free activities for children and the whole family, including clubs, groups and leisure activities. Search the Barnsley Virtual Family Hub to find out what's on.

Live Well Barnsley includes services, groups, activities and events that aid the health and wellbeing of the people of Barnsley.

Beds for Babies

If you're struggling to find a cot or bed for your young child Beds for Babies can help.

Beds for Babies is part of South Yorkshire’s Safe Place to Sleep programme and provides children under 5 with a safe bed and bedding.

The scheme is backed by Mayor Oliver Coppard and delivered in partnership with Baby Basics UK, helps families facing bed poverty in South Yorkshire.

Tax-free childcare

Tax-free childcare allows working families to save up to £2,000 annually for each child up to the age of 11, and £4,000 for a disabled child up to the age of 16, when they’re paying for their childcare.

There are now 75,000 childcare settings accepting tax-free childcare as payment including nurseries, registered childminders, holiday activity clubs and, for when school starts back in September, before and after school clubs.

Once families have opened a tax-free childcare account, they can deposit money and use it straight away or keep it in the account to use it whenever it’s needed. Any unused payments can be withdrawn at any time.

For every £8 deposited in a tax-free childcare account, the government tops it up by £2, which means parents can receive up to £500 (or £1,000 if their child is disabled) every three months towards their childcare costs.

Families could be eligible for tax-free childcare if they:

• have a child or children aged 11 or under. They stop being eligible on 1 September after their 11th birthday. If their child has a disability, they receive up to £4,000 a year until 1 September after their 16th birthday.
• the parent and their partner (if they have one) earn, or expect to earn, at least the national minimum wage or living wage for 16 hours a week, on average  
• each earn no more than £100,000 per annum  
• don't receive Universal Credit or childcare vouchers

Read more about Tax-Free Childcare.

Visit GOV.UK to check eligibility and register for Tax-Free Childcare.